Jason Maclean, president of NSGEU
A local union is filing a complaint with the Labour Standards Tribunal after the provincial government decided to end its contract with Island Employment six months early.
The move will leave 30 employees, represented by the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union, Local 150, out of work.
The announcement came nearly seven months after Nova Scotia’s Ombudsman’s annual report showed a misuse or gross mismanagement of public funds by management at Island Employment.
“Government’s not even coming out to protect them and say, you know, this is no fault of the staff that are there — this is the fault of the management team,” said Jason MacLean, president of the NSGEU.
It was employees who first brought the allegations of misspending of program funds to the Ombudsman a few years ago, he said. The disclosure complaint falls under the Public Interest Disclosure of Wrongdoing Act.
At the time, an investigation was done by the Ombudsman and a high level summary of the findings was returned to the government. The report was never made public. MacLean has tried to access it; he was told it’s confidential.
On Oct. 1, the announcement came that employees’ jobs would end on Nov. 21; Management will continue working into January.
MacLean feels the government has gone too far by opting to close Island Employment — which wasn’t one of the six recommendations in the Ombudsman’s report — and wants a straight answer as to why they didn’t have another organization take over the services and keep the current employees.
“This really stinks. Employment Nova Scotia’s involved and the sitting government is involved as well,” MacLean said. “What [the sitting government] will say is ‘this was in the works long before [we] took over,’ but they’re the ones that have the decision making power now. They do not have to throw 30 people into the street.”
The NSGEU wrote the Office of the Auditor General requesting a forensic audit of Island Employment, but it was shot down. It also wrote members of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and all Cape Breton MLAs seeking advocacy on behalf of the members of Local 150.
Local 150 even requested letters of support from other organizations they’d worked with across the Island, but MacLean said, over half of those agencies refused to voice support. He pointed out that those organizations are also government funded and may have worried voicing support would affect their funding.
“Not fair, open and transparent”
Following the announcement that the agency’s contract would be terminated, an expression of interest was put out to replace the services of Island Employment.
After a suggestion from a local MLA, MacLean said, members of local 150 wanted to organize a society and put in a bid to take over the service.
However, according to the EOI, only organizations who had already been funded by the government through the same model could bid.
That left only two organizations eligible to take over the service.
“It’s not fair, open and transparent as government is telling us,” MacLean said. “What it is is restrictive and they already have their selections of who they want to do it.”
Local 150 even filed a request to change the funding model so that the groups of members could apply — but the answer was a resounding no, MacLean said.
Now, the YMCA is advertising those jobs on six month terms, with less pay and benefits, and more requirements. Members of Local 150 can reapply for the jobs under the YMCA, but the changes to requirements mean some people are now unqualified for jobs they’ve already been doing, MacLean said.
The EOI closed on Nov. 4; it’ll be awarded in December.
Tainted reputations
The closure, and refusal to do a forensic audit has left members concerned about their reputations, MacLean said.
“Now, they’re going to go and apply for other jobs. How many people that are hiring… look at them as … ‘Oh wait now, they worked at a place that was shut down by government.’”
At the end of the day, MacLean isn’t worried about the 30 employees of Island Employment continuing to be represented by the NSGEU: he just wants to see them employed.
“Best possible solution is [the government] come in and say, you know what, we’re stopping this process, and we’re going to award this group… to take over this service and keep those jobs intact.”
Without a forensic audit clearing the employees’ names, MacLean said, there’s no way for potential employers to know the extent of a former employees involvement.
